What Now?
by gingerlily
Summary: Just some of what may have happened when they returned to District 12. I might continue, I don't know yet. Rating is for language and maybe lemons?
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is my first Hunger Games story. I really don't know where I will be going with this, I just kinda wanted to try haha. So, um...here ya go!

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_Tick, tock, tick, tock. _

All I could think about was Wiress' ominous warning back in the arena at the Quarter Quell. But this wasn't anything scary, I wasn't in danger, I was on the couch in the warm living room of my big empty house in the Victor's Village of District 12. I was listening to the steady metronome of the old grandfather clock in the hall. I looked down to see my own crossed legs, clad in dirty sweatpants. I also saw the tip of my long, dark braid swinging by my ankles, going along with the clock. Mocking me.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick tock this is a clock. _

No, it isn't Katniss. Stop being stupid.

Two days ago, the boy with the bread had been out in my back garden, planting the pure spring primroses. Was he extending an olive branch? Trying to get back in my good books? Was I going to let it work? Was he ever really _not _in my good books? Who the hell knows.

Buttercup jumped up onto the couch and brushed his face against my elbow. "Food time for Mr. Evil Fluff?" I asked him. Great. Now I was talking to animals too. I got up and walked over to the corner of the kitchen, where I kept the cat's food. He scampered over at the sound of the can being cracked open. I dumped the gross smelling goo into his little pink bowl and stood back as he eagerly moved in.

"What now?" I asked the empty house. I guess it should be a good sign that no disembodied voices replied. I decided I should go take a shower. Better yet, a bubble bath. When was the last time I actually cleaned myself? I probably didn't want to know…..

As the hot water ran into the tub in my lush bathroom, creating a coat of steam on everything, I undressed. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like shit. I looked like some kind of gross science project, a stitched, pink monster of Frankenstein. The Capitol doctors had replaced my singed off skin with this stuff. It felt and looked like skin, but it was still unsettling. Parts of my body were covered in some creepy material grown in a lab. I briefly imagined what would happen if a person had no skin. I couldn't help contain the laugh that bubbled up at the thought of a large pile of meat, bone, and muscle lying spread across the floor. Maybe an eyeball on top. Yup, there was definitely something wrong with me.

I stepped away from the mirror and went to turn of the tap. I added some lime green bubble powder I found in the cupboard. It immediately foamed up and made big green bubbles that covered the surface of the water and began floating around the room.

"Perfect" I said as I immersed myself in the steaming water. It felt good. It made my patched up skin feel a little raw at first, but I liked it. It was a principle I had adopted from Peeta. Pain could keep me sane. Keep me on this planet. Keep me connected.

the unlocked door pushed open slightly and Buttercup waltzed in. "Done eating already?" I asked. "Fatty…." I added under my breath. I really needed someone else to talk to than this stupid cat. He hopped up onto the thick ledge of the tub and settled himself.

"I guess it's just you and me again." I told the cat as I stroked his face. He closed his eyes and purred and leaned into my wet hand. I washed and rinsed my body and then my hair while Buttercup played with the bubbles, batting at them when they dare come too close.

I got out and dried off my lobster red body. Buttercup observed from his perch on the windowsill. I walked out into my room and put on some clean underwear and a tee-shirt. I looked around my room, for the second time tonight I felt as if I was waiting for my empty house to give me a command. It didn't seem to have anything to say, so I just crawled into bed. It was a little early, about 8:45, but I had nothing better to do. It didn't take long to realize how not-tired I was, but I didn't want to get up, face my empty house again, face the unsavory new truths of my live; those horrors could wait for tomorrow. My curtains were left ajar and I could see over to Peeta's house. The window to the room I knew was his bedroom was lit up. So he was awake too…

Buttercup curled up at my back and I drifted off to sleep wondering just what the boy with the bread was doing.


	2. Chapter 2

Warmth. I slowly became aware of several different types of warmth. The early morning sun playing on my neck, the warm, heavy, comforting weight of a sleeping cat on my lower back, and the rather moist warmth of…..what was that? Why was I all wet? I turned and sat up, earning myself 20 sharp claws holding onto my back for dear life. The scandalized Buttercup gave me a disapproving look and a low growl before settling in a pool of sunlight on my pillow. Sweat. I was covered in sweat. Why? I hadn't had a bad dream that I could remember, and it wasn't a cold, uncomfortable sweat, just the kind that lightly covers a body that has been warm. I guess I had just become over heated in my sleep.

I got up and went to my bathroom. I unbraided it and pulled a brush through it. Then I whipped it up into a loose and comfortable bun at the back of my head. I quickly brushed my teeth then went out into my room to pull on some leggings before heading down stairs to find food. I was standing in front of the stove stirring a pot of oatmeal when I heard a knock on the door. I turned my oatmeal down so it wouldn't boil over while I was out of the room and went to get the door. I vaguely wondered who it was. I knew who I wanted it to be….but no, he probably didn't want much to do with me.

I guess I was wrong.

"Uhh, hey, Katniss." Peeta stood there on my front porch in a grey tee-shirt and jeans. "I made these for you…I don't want you to go hungry. I know it's silly but I worry about you a little sometimes…haha". He was nervous. Why was he so nervous? He had a plate covered in a dish towel in his right hand. His left hand went up to nervously rub the back of his neck, his eyes looking anywhere but mine. "I should just leave them and go…" and with that, he thrust the plate into my surprised hands and turned to leave.

Where was my voice? How do you make vocal chords work? Why can't I remember, damn it? "Peeta" oh, that's how, "No Peeta, you shouldn't go. Um, please come in." did I sound really stupid? Probably.

"Oh. Thanks Katniss." He gave me one of those genuine smiles I value so much and walked past me into my house. We went into the kitchen and I gestured for him to have a seat at the table, which he did, as I went to the stove to stir the oatmeal.

"Want some oatmeal?" I asked.

"Wha?...oh. Oh. No thanks. " He replied.

I shrugged and slopped my oatmeal into a bowl and sat at the table with a spoon.

"Here", he said, pulling the dish cloth back. My nose was immediately greeted with the wonderful and homey smell of apples and cinnamon. "Apple turnovers." He said with a little smile that I returned.

"Wow, Peeta. They look, and smell, really yummy. Thanks." He went and grabbed two plates and put one apple turnover on each and pushed one of the plates at me. He then picked up his own and bit into it, so I copied him. It was amazing, warm, fresh from the oven, and full of gooey apple amazing-ness. "Woah. This is really good!" He replied with a light smile of thanks.

When we were done with our food, I took the plates over to the sink and washed them. He came up next to me and began to dry them and put them away. "Oh. Thank you." I said, looking up at him through my lashes. Why was I being so shy and polite? This was the guy I sat in a cave with and kissed for nearly a week straight. What was wrong with me?

After everything was dry and put away I just took his hand and walked him over to the couch, sat down, and turned on the television. _Yes, _I thought, _this is good, just some simple together time where neither of us really has to do anything. _He sat down next to me, a little awkwardly at first, but I snuggled up against him and his strong arms wrapped around me, holding me to him. I smiled a little to myself. The television played some rather boring documentary about paper making in District 7, but I don't think either of us were really paying attention. We were both occupied with wondering. Wondering what would happen next, wondering where our relationship was going, just wondering. Simply wondering, _what next? _


	3. Chapter 3

I sat curled up in a little ball on the soft green grass of my back lawn, staring at the primroses. It was amazing how much they reminded me of her. So soft, so pure. Silky little pink petals, covered in dew drops, peeking out at the sun. I continued to stare, unblinkingly at the little sprouts. Maybe if I could just….no. No, Katniss. That isn't how things work. She is gone. But is she? How can she be when I'm sitting here looking right at her. The little buds seemed to talk to me. _You know, Katniss. _They said. They didn't sound like her. They way they said my name sounded like a mouth full of tin. _You know what you have to do. You know how you can see her again….see me again. _"I….I don't believe you!" I shouted at the threatening little flowers. This time they didn't respond.

"Katniss?" I heard my name again, this time it didn't sound like the tin tongued primroses, but like wind blowing through reeds. "Are you…talking to yourself?" Peeta had a slightly amused smile on his face as he sauntered into my back yard.

"No" I replied. "I was talking to the primroses." That made his smile vanish.

"Were they…er…talking back?" He asked, clearly concerned for my sanity.

"They started the conversation, actually." I said, matter-of-factly.

He walked over to me rather cautiously and took my hand. "Are you okay Katniss?"

"No, I'm not, Peeta. I am sad. Very sad. This isn't easy. I loved her so much….for such a long time…she was my only purpose. I lived to keep her alive. Nothing else." I said. Without a word, he pulled me into a tight hug. "And I feel like I'm being so stupid and selfish because I know you are going through really terrible things too, and here I am falling apart for you to pick up the pieces. Stop worrying about my pieces. Just try to find your own." I said into his warm shoulder.

"My pieces are just fine. Sometimes they hurt, but I know where they all are. I _want_ to pick up your pieces, Katniss. It makes me happy to be able to help." He said. That made tears start to run down my cheeks and absorb into his shirt.

"I can't tell you how much that means to me." I said.

He just smiled. "Come on," he said "I want to show you something."

"What are you showing me?" I asked as he pulled me by the hand around the side of my house and out into the little square in the middle of the Victor's Village.

"Hope." He replied simply.

"Hope?" I asked. He didn't respond.

We walked past his house and to the front of Haymitch's. We went around to the side and leaned against the white picket fence that encircled his yard. I looked up, and that's when I saw him. Haymitch was in his yard, wearing only red swim trunks, sitting cross legged in the middle of a small children's play pool with the hose running into it. He looked utterly ridiculous, and I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

Peeta shushed me; clearly we were to remain undetected. Then I noticed the little grey balls of fluff floating in a circle around him.

"Are those…..baby geese?" I asked, surprised.

Peeta smiled down at me. "Yep. I saw him bring them home yesterday. I think he must have found them abandoned in town or near the forest."

"That is absolutely adorable." I was never a girly girl, and definitely not one to squeal over 'cute' things, but the scene before me made me want to jump up and down and giggle until the cows came home.

"Come on," Peeta said, "let's not bug him." He took my hand and we walked leisurely back to my house. Greasey Sae was there with her little granddaughter making me dinner. She always made enough for about twenty people, so I invited Peeta to stay and eat with me. I stood in the kitchen and tried to pick up cooking tips while Peeta sat in the other room playing with Dandelion, or Dandy for short, Greasey Sae's granddaughter. She finished the duck stew she had been preparing, and with many commands to make sure I ate enough, Greasey Sae collected Dandy and left me alone with Peeta.

After they left, I quickly fed a very indignant and upset Buttercup, who had been outside all day, probably hunting mice, or Haymitch's baby geese.

"It smells really great." Peeta remarked politely.

"Yeah, it does." I agreed.

We both went collected bowls of stew and grabbed a fresh roll from Peeta's house and sat at the table. We ate our food mostly in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable, awkward silence, but the easy silence you get between two friends who simply have nothing to say to each other.

After we ate I washed the dishes and he dried and put them away. I was washing a wooden cutting board when he stopped drying a glass. He just put it down on the counter and just faced me and looked at me, his arms crossed. He had an odd expression on his face, like he was trying to work out a difficult math problem, or he was wondering the outcome of a potential action.

Just as I was about to ask him what he was staring at, he swooped down and pressed his lips against mine, slow and unsure. I heard the cutting board that had just been in my hands hit the sink as I involuntarily dropped it. He pulled back from the warm kiss, looking into my eyes.

"Sorry," he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, "I just...wanted to be sure you understand…how I feel…"

It felt like there was a pound of marbles rolling around in my stomach, jumping like they were on a trampoline. I couldn't tell whether I liked it or not.

He backed away quickly, unsure and embarrassed.

"No" I choked out. "Wait…"

Closed the gap between us with two steps and wrapped my arms around his waist. I had no idea what to say, how to convey how much I wanted this with him, how much I…what was the word…love? Did I love him? So I didn't say anything. I just stood there with him.

After what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes, I pulled back and went up onto my tip toes to press a light kiss to his mouth. He responded by wrapping his arms more tightly around me and kissing me back, but pulling away after just a few moments.

I looked up to see him smiling brilliantly. "Katniss." The way he said my name made it sound like a song. There was a weight and reverence that came with it when it slipped off his lips.

"Peeta." I said. "Will you…would you stay with me tonight? I just don't want to sleep alone anymore…"

"Yes." He replied eagerly, "Yes, of course."

"Thanks." I said.

We went up into my room and sat on the bed to watch the small amount of remaining sun sink beneath the rolling hills. He leaned against my headboard and I snuggled into his chest, his arm around me. From this vantage point, I could see the little line of primroses. Primroses. Prim. Primro-

"Katniss?" His voice pulled me out of my trance. "Are you okay?" he asked me for the second time today. What were those damn flowers doing to me?

"Yeah." I said vaguely. "Yeah I'm fine. Is it ok with you if I take a shower really quickly?" I asked.

He just smiled. "Of course." He replied with a kind smile. "It's not like I can stop you…this _is _your house, after all."

I forced a laugh. If anyone could make me laugh, it was Peeta. And when he couldn't do it, I needed to be alone.

"I'll be back in like twenty minutes." I told him, again forcing a smile. What had come over me? I was perfectly content just a few minutes ago…

"I'll be right here." He joked.

I just walked across the room into my bathroom. I stripped down and turned on the taps, making the water nice and warm.

I stepped into the shower and just stood under the tepid stream. Then the sadness came. I could do nothing to stop the sob the ripped up my throat. Prim. My Prim. My pure little Primrose. My little duck. My Prim.

I let my back fall against the wall and felt myself sink to the floor of the shower, my heel slipping on the wet surface and making a loud squeaking noise. I just sat there, curled up into a tiny, vulnerable ball. More loud sobs wracked my body. Trying not to feel. Being forced to feel. _Just stop feeling. _

The bathroom door burst open. "Katniss? Katniss are you-oh my god." Peeta yanked the shower curtain back and I felt and heard my sobs increase in volume and multiply. Great. Just what I needed. Here is the guy of my dreams, who I am just starting to have a relationship with, and the first time he sees me naked is curled up in a pathetic little ball on a shower floor. Awesome. I have the best luck.

"Peeta, no." I tried to wave him away. Of course it didn't work. He was wearing pajama pants and no shirt. He must have run back to his house to get pajamas when I first got in the shower.

Without saying anything he crawled into the shower and sat behind me, his back to the curve of the tub and his legs lying on either side of me. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me tight. At first I tried to protest again, but he again ignored it. I let myself fall back into the firm, muscular, smooth security of his chest. Then I let my sobs continue.

"P-Peeta. My…my-_sob_-my sister is -_sob _-my little baby sister. My Prim. My Prim is…d-_sob_-dead" I managed to get out before I was entirely overcome by painful, body shaking cries and sobs.

"Shhhh." He said soothingly, stroking my hair, "I know Katniss. I know. It is true, my love. There is nothing to be done about now but carry on our lives in a way she would have liked."

I just nodded and turned slightly, cuddling into his chest. We stayed in that position for what had to be nearly half an hour. Me crying out everything I had, and him stroking my hair and rubbing my back.

Finally, my body-wrenching sobs began to subside slightly and I felt my eyes begin to droop. I heard him chuckle, probably at the ridiculous way I was beginning to fall asleep. He leaned forward, taking me with him, and turned off the taps. He then scooped me up in his arms and stood up and stepped out of the tub. He set me down on the fuzzy bathmat and I just stood there, useless, staring at my feet. I heard him step over to the closed and in another moment I was being wrapped in a warm, thick, fluffy towel. He hugged me from behind and ducked his head to put his lips to where my neck met my shoulder.

"I know this is totally the wrong time for this, but I am a guy. We have trouble controlling what we notice. And you, Katniss Everdeen, are absolutely beautiful." He said into my neck.

I gave a little giggle and blushed. Giggling? That wasn't like me…

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! I just….oh my god. You…your whole body is so…wow." He said, and now it was his turn to blush.

I turned around to face him, my towel dropping slightly. "Thank you." I pressed a light kiss to his lips. "Now, can we go to bed. I'm so tired…"

He smiled. He walked out into my room and grabbed another pair of pajama pants from his bag on the ground. He must have dropped it there when he had run in at the sounds of my crying and falling.

"I'm just gonna change real quick. Okay?" he asked. I nodded and smiled, looking at his soaking pajama pants. I turned and walked into my room and put on some sleep shorts and a tank top and crawled into bed. Buttercup hopped up and settled by my feet.

The bathroom door opening. The light being shut off. Five steps across the wooden floor of my room, every other one slightly heavier from his prosthetic leg. The rustle of sheets as he slid into the bed behind me.

I turned so I was facing him and snuggled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me. I felt so safe, so….

"Peeta, I think I love you." I announced groggily, before I forgot and fell asleep.

"You _think_?" He said, I could hear the laughter in his voice.

I laughed then too. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I _definitely _love you. I'm just still trying to get used to saying it."

I can't be sure, but I think he said something else too, but I was already quickly falling into deep, undisturbed, safe, secure, sleep enveloped in the warm arms of love.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi there. Sorry for the long wait, I just kinda wasn't sure where to go with this. I am going to try to update more and hopefully continue with this. This chapter is super short haha sorry. Also, I am TERRIBLE at writing lemon-ey things, but I really want to include them because I think they are very important to the relationship, so we'll just have to see what happens there. Ok bye!

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_Peeta's point of view _

She was beautiful. She was _so _beautiful! The thin light of the recently risen sun dancing on her face. Her eyelashes, thick and dark, brushing her cheeks. Her long and wild hair splayed out all around her. The covers pushed down and her shirt pushed up, giving me a view of a sliver of radiant, tanned, scarred skin. She was beautiful.

I had seen her without clothes for the first time last night, but not under the circumstances I would have liked. When I pulled back that curtain to see her so small and helpless looking, curled in a ball in the stream of water, my heart actually stopped. Crawling in to comfort her wasn't just an act of kindness; I literally had no choice but to hold her against me until her wails subsided. She _still _had no idea about the effect she had on people.

Once I got over the initial shock, and realized that she was going to be fine, (well, as close to fine as any of us can get anymore), I realized that I was holding a naked angel in my arms. Her body was…I really couldn't think of a word if you paid me. Amazing? Unbelievable? Far better than that of a goddess? None of those even came close. Katniss was never one to worry about appearance, but that doesn't mean I didn't notice hers. I think I had always been slightly aware of her figure, but when I got older I became uncomfortably aware of it. Even in her vulnerable and fragile state, it was all I could do to prevent my body from reacting. I was thinking about Haymitch in a bikini half the time I was sitting there with her, and even after I had taken her to bed and she was soundly asleep, I had to sneak off to the bathroom for a few minutes to take care of some….problems.

I pushed a stray lock of hair back away from her face, and she stirred slightly. Her eyelids fluttered and opened and her grey orbs found mine.

"I'm sorry", I mumbled. I always sounded like such a git. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's ok…I was probably going to wake up soon. And it was a rather nice way to wake up." She smiled warmly before looking to the window. "What time is it?", she asked.

"About eight thirty." I told her.

She then looked over towards the bathroom and seemed to remember the events of the previous night. I saw the comprehension dawn on her face and her mouth for a silent "oh".

"I'm so sorry Peeta, that was so stupid and I'm really sorry you had to see it and it won't happen again and I'm so embarrassed and-"

"Shhhhhh." I said, pressing my thumb to her lips, and stemming the seemingly endless and jumbled blur of words I didn't need to hear from her. "Katniss, it's perfectly fine." I told her, putting my finger under her chin and forcing her eyes to meet mine.

"It's just…embarrassing…." She said.

"No. No it isn't. It is normal. You're human, I would probably be concerned if you weren't upset, or if you came out of this unscathed." I told her in a firm voice. "Are you hungry?" I asked, much softer.

She gave me a shy little smile and replied, "If you're cooking, always."


End file.
